


St George’s camp for troubled teens

by drwhogirl



Category: The Professionals
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-18
Updated: 2014-08-18
Packaged: 2018-02-13 17:25:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2158980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drwhogirl/pseuds/drwhogirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bodie and Doyle meet at camp when they were teens</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Ray couldn’t work out why his parents thought he needed this, sure he’d knifed a kid but there was no way his parents could possibly know about that.  
He climbed up into the coach; backpack slung over his left shoulder, and looked around for somewhere to sit. After a moment, he managed to locate the only vacant seat left. “Alright if I sit here?” He asked the lad in the adjoining seat. On receiving a shrug in reply, he slumped bonelessly into the seat, swinging his bag into his foot well as he did so.   
“What’s your name?” He enquired of his still silent companion as he coach left. The boy seemed slightly startled and turned from the window to look at Ray for the first time.  
He looked to be quite young, at least a year Ray’s junior. His black hair was quite short, short enough that you’d barely even realise that it curled, and his eyes were a beautiful shade of midnight blue.  
“Will. Will Bodie.” The boy told him with a slightly nervous attempt at a half smile.  
“Nice to meet you Will. I’m Ray Doyle.” That earned him a more genuine smile. It didn’t last long however, as Will pulled a poetry book out of his bag and quickly lost himself in the works within. Ray sighed, realizing he wouldn’t get much more out of Will, he pulled out a book of his own.  
*******  
A few hours and a massive detour due to road works later, they finally arrived at the campsite. The first thing they were asked to do was leave their bags and suitcases in the main hall. They were then split into their groups and taken on a tour of the site.   
As they walked Ray looked around at the group. There were 16 of them in total, not including their team leader Ellie, and only 4 of those, including him, were boys. He noticed Will was walking further back, behind everyone else and elected to go and talk to him rather than leaving them both on their own.  
When they started heading back in the direction of the tents, they were joined by the other two boys. “Hey.” The taller of the two boys said with a grin. “I’m Sean Murphy and this is Tommy McKay.”  
“I’m Will and that’s Ray.” Will introduced them both.   
Ellie came over to them at that point, explaining that the 4 boys would have to share a tent. Not having any problems with the idea, they were shown to their tent.  
*******  
The tents were much nicer than Ray was expecting, though quite honestly he wasn’t sure what he had been expecting. Each tent had two bedroom compartments and a communal area in the middle. They agreed who’d have each compartment and Ray and Will both went to put their bags in the left whilst Sean and Tommy settled in the right. The four of them stayed up, late into the night, talking, laughing and getting to know one another. Ray decided that maybe this camp wouldn’t be so bad after all.  
*******  
The next morning it took Ray a moment to orientate himself. He checked his watch and realised he’d only slept for a maximum of 5 hours. He toyed with the idea of going back to sleep, but decided against it, wanting to make sure he didn’t miss breakfast. Instead he glanced over at the still sleeping Will. He was wrapped up like a mouse ready for hibernation, over the course of the night he’d gained an extra two layers over his pyjamas in the form of a couple of jumpers a few sizes too big for him. Ray considered waking him but knew that Will would need all the help he could get, so left him to it. They had plenty of time until breakfast.  
*******  
After a very disappointing breakfast of: cold porridge; cereal with out of date milk or baked beans. The group congregated and met their instructor. They were going to have Steve instructing them for the climbing they were doing first and the high ropes right after.  
*******  
Ray had barely even started climbing when it happened. He tried to place his foot on the hold, but got the angle wrong and his ankle twisted awkwardly. Steve helped him down and he all but collapsed on the grass. He chatted with the group’s volunteer, Lamara, as he watched first Sean then Will climb the wall with ease, before abseiling back down.   
Once completing his climb, Will came to join Ray and Lamara went to see if she could have a go along with Ellie.   
“You did really well.” Ray told Will, as the younger boy sat next to him.   
“Thanks.” Will said with a smile. They both watched as Tommy struggled to climb half way before the heights got the better of him and he came down.  
“Do you want a hand up?” Will asked as they prepared to move on.  
“Yeah, thanks.” Ray took the offered hand and Will gently pulled him up, slipping an arm around the older boy’s waist to take some of the weight off his ankle.  
*******  
They then moved on to the high ropes course. This involved more climbing, but instead of a wall it involved climbing a wobbly pole. One person would have to climb the wobbly pole and sit on the platform at the top whilst their partner also climbed the pole. When they both reached the top, they stood on opposite edges, facing one another, linking hands and leaning back. On the count of three they would let go and the harness would catch them before they were lowered to the ground.  
Ray was almost relieved to have the excuse of his ankle, so he didn’t have to do it. He really didn’t have a head for heights.  
He sat down on a log at the edge of the clearing and Will sat down next to him. They chatted about anything and everything that came to mind. They both almost fell off the log laughing when Tommy leaned back too far and pulled Sean off the top of the platform.  
Ray glanced over at his companion and, seeing the look of longing in the other boy’s eyes, held back a sigh. “You want to have a go?” He asked, nodding in the direction of the pole.  
“What? Really?” Will looked slightly startled, but the gleam in his eyes told Ray he’d made the right decision.   
“Yeah, come on. I’ll do it with you.”  
“Do you wanna go up first? Or shall I?”  
“I will, it gives me less of a chance to back out.” Ray told him with a shaky smile. They both went to talk a couple of the girls, Ciara and Laura, into lending them helmets and harnesses (as they’d both given theirs to Lamara and Ellie to climb earlier).  
Once they were both hooked up, Ray walked over to the base of the pole. He glanced up at the top, took a very deep breath and started climbing. He reached out for the nearest hold and his heart nearly stopped as it started to slip, another deep breath and he started climbing again. It was a relief when the sliding metal poles changed to wooden, nailed on holds. He was almost at the top when he made the mistake of looking down. The panic washed over him. He was barely able to register Steve’s reassurances and instructions to let go of the pole so they could lower him to the ground. The moment Ray was back on the ground, his knees gave way. He was saved from collapsing in an unceremonious heap on the floor when he was pulled into a massive bear hug.  
He felt himself being led away from the pole amidst mumbled reassurances and the comforting embrace. It was only when he felt his helmet being lifted from atop his riotous mop of brown curls that he allowed himself to look into the eyes of his rescuer. It was Will.  
“Thank you.” Ray whispered, eyes bright with unshed tears.  
“For what?”  
“For being here.” Ray pulled him closer and buried his head in the other boy’s shoulder.  
*******  
After lunch they started team building with Johnny and Jack. They had fun using team work to try and balance the seesaw by lifting weights onto it with a crane before moving on to the wall of doom. The aim of the wall was to work together to get each person in their team over the wall. Two people would stand at the bottom of the wall and give the person a boost whilst someone stood on top of the wall and helped to pull them up.  
When it was Ray’s turn he was clearly nervous.  
“It’s alright.” Sean reassured him. “We’ve got you.”  
Ray nodded and put his left foot in Sean’s linked fingers and his right in Tommy’s. He reached up and felt Will’s strong fingers close around his forearm and pull him to safety on top of the wall.  
“You know,” Will commented with a grin, “for someone so skinny, you aren’t half heavy.” That earned him a laugh.  
*******  
During bushcraft the group split in half. Whilst some of the group went off with Johnny to make shelters, the others made and maintained a campfire whilst they listened to Johnny philosophise.  
*******  
Ray was starting to get rather bored. His ankle had started playing up again, so whilst everyone else was orienteering he was sat with his ankle propped up. His back was starting to complain because of the way he had to bend to hold a bag of frozen vegetables to his ankle.  
“You alright, ace?” Will asked, sitting down next to his foot. He gently took the vegetables from Ray, continuing to hold it to his ankle and allowing the older boy to straighten up.  
“Yeah, just bored.”  
“Well, we can’t have that can we? I’ll just have to stay here and keep you occupied.”   
“You know, I really don’t deserve you.”  
“Is that meant to be good or bad?” Will asked with a raised eyebrow.  
“We’ll see sunshine,” Ray replied with a grin, “we’ll see.”  
*******  
‘5am.’ Ray thought to himself. ‘Why did I have to wake up at 5am?’  
Of course, he did know why he had woken up. He’d been woken by the morning chorus as he had every morning. They were camping in the middle of the forest, that was only to be expected. What he hadn’t expected however, was to wake up in Will’s arms.  
He knew it probably didn’t mean anything and was completely unprepared at how disappointing the thought was. He didn’t like Will that way… did he? Yes, they’d only known each other for two days but it felt like so much longer.   
As he entered the shower block an image of Will asleep that very morning was conjured up in his mind’s eye. It was at that moment he realised just how strong his feelings for the other boy really were. Ray Doyle fancied Will Bodie.  
*******  
Ray was walking near the front of the group, with their instructor Jemma, when he felt a hand on his arm, gently pulling him to a halt allowing the rest of the group to pass them.  
“What’s wrong Ray?” Will asked, concern clearly written all over his face.  
“Nothing. I’m fine.” The response sounded weak, even to Ray’s ears, but it was the best he could do.  
“You’re clearly not. You’ve been avoiding me all day and you look miserable.”   
“I’m not miserable.” He responded with a forced smile.  
“Ray…” Will’s tone held a hint of warning.  
“It’s nothing, really.”  
“If it’s nothing then I still want to hear it. Please Ray.”  
“What do you want me to say!?” Ray snapped. “Do you want me to tell you that it freaked me out when I woke up to find you on top of me!? Do you want me to tell you I’ve spent all day convincing myself it meant nothing!?” Will flushed red and turned away, not wanting to accidentally meet Ray’s eye as Ray’s voice dropped to a barely audible whisper. “Do you want me to tell you that despite that I’ve still fallen for you?”  
“You… wait… what?” Will turned back to Ray. Surprise plastered over his face and a spark of hope in his beautiful blue eyes. Ray however wasn’t looking at him. “Ray.” He gently took the other boy’s hand and felt forest green eyes turn to him. “I’ve fallen for you too.” He lent forward capturing Ray’s lips with his own.  
They jumped apart when they heard a cough from behind them; they turned to see a very amused looking Sean and a rather disappointed Tommy. The reason for Tommy’s disappointment became apparent when Sean held out his hand and Tommy handed over a chocolate bar. “Couldn’t you guys have waited until tomorrow?”  
*******  
The group carried on their expedition, with Will needing to offer support to Ray at times due to his ankle occasionally giving way. If anyone other than Sean and Tommy realised about the change in their relationship then none of them commented.  
*******  
The evening activity was an hour of using rubbish to find a way to drop eggs from a bridge without them breaking. It was, in an eggshell, a mixture of boredom and awful yolks. After that they headed down to the campfire where everyone at the camp sang and danced around like idiots.  
*******  
“Will, wake up.” It felt like the 100th time Ray had tried to wake him and he was getting a little fed up. As much as he enjoyed watching Will sleep, they needed to go to breakfast.  
“Ray.” Sean whispered from the doorway. When Ray looked up at him, Sean threw a pillow at Will, hitting him square in the face.  
Will woke with a start and everyone else laughed at the expression on his face. Will quickly located the culprit and pillow’s owner and threw it back at Sean. This was the start of a pillow fight that lasted until Ellie had to come and get them and remind them that they were meant to be at breakfast.  
*******  
The canoeing and raft building both took place in a rather cold and grubby lake. There were two pairs of canoes attached together. Sean, Will, Ray and Tommy got into one of the canoes and a group of girls climbed into the one adjoining. Will was very quick to take control, telling everyone what to do and counting out the paddle strokes to keep everyone in time.  
“Do you have any idea how much like a drill sergeant you sound?” Ray teased.   
They all ended up incredibly wet because Leslie, their instructor, kept encouraging them to splash each other as part of their games.  
The rafting was next. The whole team worked together to build a raft out of 6 logs, 4 barrels and a lot of rope. Unfortunately it wasn’t as sturdy as they would have hoped and fell apart beneath them, resulting in them all ending up in the water.  
*******  
“I really wanted to do low ropes.” Ray couldn’t hide the disappointment in his voice.  
“I know you did sunshine,” Will told him, with an arm around his shoulders, “but if your ankle’s playing up then we shouldn’t make it worse.”  
They were both sat on the grass watching the others messing around on the course.   
Ray had confided in Will that his ankle was starting to play up again and Will had convinced him to tell Rob, their current instructor, and sit out of the activity. He even agreed to sit out himself to make sure that Ray did rest.  
*******  
Dinner was followed by a talent show. There was a variety of different talents being displayed: dancing; gymnastics; stand up comedy; but the star of the show was Will. He’d written a song for Ray and borrowed a guitar so he could play and sing.  
When Will came down from the concrete platform that served as a stage he was enveloped in a hug by Ray. “That was amazing.” He whispered in Will’s ear.  
“It was the only way I could think to express my feelings.” Will explained, looking embarrassed.  
“I loved it, just like I love you.” Ray told him with a smile, gently pulling Will into a kiss.  
*******  
Nobody wanted the ride home to end because they knew that once it did they might never see some of the friends they made again.  
Before they moved from their seats, Ray placed a hand on Will’s arm. “So I guess this is it.” He said quietly.  
“I guess so.”  
“Call me?” Ray handed Will a slip of paper with his number on it.  
Will took it and gave Ray a similar piece of paper. “Not if you call me first.” He lent forward and stole a kiss before they parted ways to rejoin their families once more.


	2. 16 years later

Doyle glared at his new partner from across the table. Of all the people he could have been partnered with, ended up working with, it had to be William Andrew Philip Bodie.  
He'd tried to forget about that week in camp, about his crush. That's what he convinced himself, it was a crush. But having Bodie sat there in front of him brought everything flooding back.  
"You never called." He stated simply, moving his gaze to his hands folded on the table.  
"I couldn't." Bodie replied simply.  
"Why not!? And why couldn't I call you!?"  
"Ray..."  
"Don't." Ray snapped. "Don't call me that."  
Bodie sighed. "Fine. Doyle. Look, I tried. My mother stole your number. I left not long after that."  
"Oh..." Doyle paused for a moment. "Would you have called?"  
"Of course I would." Bodie reached across and gently took Doyle's hand in his. "Please believe me Ray."  
Doyle looked up, into those blue eyes he loved so much. "Of course I do." It was worth it to see that beautiful smile. "It doesn't mean you're completely forgiven but I believe you."  
"That's all I'm asking for."


End file.
